


What I Couldn't Teach You, You Will Realize

by Chronicles_of_Scout



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Father-Daughter Relationship, Found Family, Mother-Daughter Relationship, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 10:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14447694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chronicles_of_Scout/pseuds/Chronicles_of_Scout
Summary: When Kara finally confesses her feelings to Alex, the agent couldn't be happier.  What follows are weeks of bliss and unexpected support from Eliza.  As her luck only seems to increase, Alex decides that maybe being happy isn't such a risk after all.





	What I Couldn't Teach You, You Will Realize

**Author's Note:**

> This spans between 2x08 and 2x14 so since that's kind of Alex's coming out arc expect it to be all about that. Bigotry, prejudice and hate rhetoric will be in here so warnings for anyone who gets triggered. No real homophobia? Pretty sure there's no homophobia.
> 
> Unbeta'd.
> 
> Song:  
> You Are Your Mother's Child.
> 
> Enjoy.

####  **

What I Couldn't Teach You, You Will Realize

**

Alex smiled as she slowly surfaced into the waking world; the soft fingers of sleep receding with a gentleness that made her want to sink further into her bed and stay there forever.

That she was wrapped tightly in Kara’s arms was a huge bonus in her book; the Kryptonian’s soft breath gusting against the back of her neck, their legs entwined, and Kara’s breasts pressed to her back.

It was a good morning.

Sighing, she snuggled deeper into her pillow, grasping at Kara’s hand on her stomach and pulling it up to her chest.  Alex chanced a glance at the clock, noting that it was a little after nine in the morning, a late start for her.  Being that it was Sunday, she didn’t really mind and she’d already decided that she was going to take full advantage of a quiet morning in with her girlfriend.

She hadn’t gotten any emergency calls from J’onn, Kara hadn’t jumped out a window to save the day, and Eliza was safely tucked away at Alex’s apartment.

Her mother had been visiting due to an alien virus outbreak and had helped them crack the antidote.  She’d decided to stay a while longer to help them come up with more alternative treatments based on species… and to spend some much needed time with her daughters.  Alex had been extremely grateful for her mother’s wisdom in all things biology and had even found comfort in her mother’s steady presence.

She’d been less grateful that Eliza had caught her in the lab hunched over a microscope stressed out and near tears.

At the time her relationship with Kara had still been new; they had barely even _talked_ about the _idea_ of their sexuality let alone their feelings.  Nevertheless, it had been there, the tension simmering on the surface as the two continued as if nothing was changing.  Even though _everything_ was changing. 

They’d held hands more, dropping the hold as soon as someone else came into viewing range.  Kara had started playing more in Alex’s hair, and Alex had stopped swatting her hands away.  They hadn’t spent a night away from each other in weeks by that point.

And there’d been intense moments; idle times where they would somehow find themselves _close,_ inches away from _tasting…_

Alex had wanted to talk about it.  Had psyched herself up to talk about it multiple times.  She _knew_ that if she brought it up to Kara, the blonde wouldn’t push her away.  That all she’d needed to do was tell Kara that this is what she wanted and her alien would bend over backwards to make it happen.  They’d essentially been dating without the kissing part, so a conversation had been long overdue.

But every time Alex caught herself imagining what a relationship with Kara would be like, she also found herself realizing what a relationship with Kara would mean.

Kara couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.  Literally.  If they became a couple, everyone Kara cared about – and even some she didn’t—would know about it.  She wasn’t a gossip, but she’d never quite grasped that some people didn’t wish everyone else well.  If she had happy news, she wanted to share that happiness with the world.  Alex was a bit more… reserved.    

It had been annoying at first, but now Alex couldn’t imagine Kara any other way.  She didn’t want to.  But she also didn’t want to invite the inevitable hate and bigotry into their lives that would follow such an announcement. 

She also hadn’t wanted the visual of Mon-El’s lips on _her—_

…Someone.

Her someone.

Alex wasn’t into the idea of her “owning” anyone but she irrationally still thought of Kara as _hers._

And that damn Daxamite had planted his grubby lips where they clearly weren’t wanted.  Sure, he’d been delusional from the medusa virus, but he still could have _asked._ Clearly Kara hadn’t wanted to be kissed.

At least Alex had hoped that it wasn’t wanted at the time.

She hadn’t been sure; hadn’t _known_ for sure.

Eliza had found her in the middle of a breakdown and Alex had cracked like a pistachio.  She’d dumped everything on her mother in an angry tirade that sounded more than a little like she’d been angry with _Eliza,_ when in reality she had just been pissed off with herself and her inability to _act_.

To express herself like a normal fucking human being.

Coming out to her mom about her sexuality _and_ her feelings for her foster sister had probably not been something a normal person would do.  She’d asked around.  Everyone—Maggie— agreed with her.

Eliza, for once, had taken it all in stride and Alex had had to remember that this woman had _raised_ her.  She knew how Alex was when it came to her emotions, had dealt with more than one of her daughters tantrums.  Embarrassingly enough, this one had actually been tame compared to Alex’s teen years.

And so, in a completely unexpected turn of events, Eliza had asked if Alex could be happy with Kara.  Alex had said yes and, while Eliza hadn’t seemed _completely_ comfortable with the idea, her mom had hugged her and told her to stop fighting invisible demons.

_“We have enough real life trauma for you to imagine every possible tragedy that could ever come to pass.  Work with what’s in front of you honey.”_

She’d been more than a little thrown at the support having expected a massive fight at her admissions.  If she was being honest, she kind of felt a little cheated.  It must have shown in her face because then Eliza was tugging her ear and telling her she’d always been a bit of a drama queen.

Rude.

She’d still hesitated, torn despite her mother’s pep talk.  Eliza, as a mother, had rose colored glasses when it came to Alex, she couldn’t imagine anyone _not_ liking her daughter.  There was still a really good chance that the whole thing with Kara was all in Alex’s head. 

Luckily for her, Kara cornered her that night three weeks ago, blurting out that she hated the fact that people thought she was available.

_“Because I am Alex.  I am available, only I don’t want to be.  I want to be very much unavailable.  Or yours is what I’m saying.  I want to be your girlfriend.  If… maybe you’d want to be mine?”_

The rest was history.

Strong arms tightening around her abdomen had her blinking open her eyes again from where she’d started to doze.  The cool warmth of the sun, it’s brightness doused by the curtains on Kara’s windows, playing on her face making her morning even more blissful.  Kara pressed a soft kiss to her shoulders, fingers stroking on the exposed bits of Alex’s skin as the blonde finally awoke.

“G’morning.”  She mumbled, inhaling Alex’s scent and stretching against her back.  “D’you want breakfast?”

Alex laughed, twisting in Kara’s arms for a kiss, her Kryptonian responding eagerly.

This was a good morning.

~*~

Correction: it had been a fantastic morning.  The best morning to ever grace mornings.  Happiness had shit a daughter called Exuberant and bestowed her upon Alex that day.

Kara had found her dad.

Kara had found her dad.

She pinched herself as she stood by the table in Kara’s apartment, staring over at her parent’s making dinner in the kitchen.  It had been three days since Jeremiah Danvers had been found in the back of a Cadmus van.  Three days since Kara had responded to an emergency alert from Winn.

Three days since Alex’s world had felt _right_ again.

Kara was practically vibrating when she bounced over to Alex and grabbed her arm, face the picture of excitement.

“On a scale of one to ‘I can’t even’, how happy are you right now?”

Alex exhaled sharply, a laugh stuck in her throat as she tried to process… well, _anything_ really.

“I can’t even.”  She returned, grasping Kara’s hand in hers and tugging her over to where Winn was already grabbing glasses to start setting the table.

The family had been inseparable for three days and Jeremiah had insisted he’d wanted to know everything he had missed.  Kara and Alex had gushed about their teen years, regaling him with stories of their antics.  Alex had kept her college life pretty sterile, not wanting to overwhelm her dad with who she had been.  Kara, sensing her discomfort, had made up for it with her own escapades.

When they had gotten to present day stories, Jeremiah had asked for a dinner so that he could meet their friends and Kara and Eliza, who had been mostly quiet up to this point, had put their heads together and pulled off a miracle.

They’d made her dad’s favorite dish: steak, broccoli and baked potatoes.  It was, coincidentally, also one of Alex’s favorites.  Kara… not so much.  But the blonde had made a mountain of wings and she and Eliza had thrown together some homemade pizzas for variety. 

The kitchen smelled amazing.

Her found family, J’onn, Winn, Lucy, Maggie, James, and even Mon-El, were all in attendance and all smiling.

Kara was beautiful, and happy, and _hers._

Everything had been perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

“Alex has been an amazing asset at the DEO.  I’ll admit Dr. Danvers, when I first met her I was extremely skeptical of her record, but she’s proved herself and then some.  Kara too.”  Kara beamed at Lucy from behind her slice of pizza and Alex flipped her off.  “Although I must admit, you’re second daughter is way less grumpy.  We want some kid Alex stories—make her more human.”

“Hey!”  Alex protested, quieting when Kara set a glass of wine in front of her and kissed her cheek before resuming her chair.

“I have to agree, Danvers does raise some eyebrows at first.  The first time I met her, she kicked me off my own crime scene.  Rudely.”  Maggie quirked an eyebrow at Alex, who pressed her lips together to contain her smile.

“That is not fair, I didn’t know you were cool back then.”

“You don’t think anyone is cool but Kara.  You thought I was weird until I mentioned that I liked Queen.”  Winn argued.

“Oh, don’t feel bad about that Winn.  Alex tortured Kara when she first came to live with us.  I’m pretty sure she pushed her out of her tree house.”

“Mom!”  Alex cried face palming.  “I told you that she tripped.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Kara, who blushed behind stuffed cheeks but nodded her confirmation.

“You still don’t think I’m cool.”  Mon-El offered, shrugging his shoulders and taking a sip from his cup of soda.

Alex narrowed her eyes at him.  “Yeah, don’t push it.”

J’onn made a rumbling sound of dissent to Alex’s left and leaned forward to be heard better.  “If I may, Alex is the best agent I’ve seen in my time at the DEO and an even better warrior.  She would have held a high place of honor on Mars.”  Alex caught his eyes as he smiled at her, a warm feeling settling in her chest at his praise and she hurriedly lifted her wine glass to hide her anxiety.  “Besides, Alex’s unrelenting seriousness is one of her best qualities.”  He winked at her and raised his own glass in a salute.

She snorted, the laugh that came as a result of his candor catching her off guard and causing wine to leak out of her mouth.  She grabbed her napkin, a burning sensation in her nostrils and tears in her eyes as she glared at him.

The table laughed and Kara dropped one of her hands under the table and squeezed Alex’s knee.  Alex leaned back in her chair, still holding the cloth to her nose, and tangled her fingers with Kara’s out of sight of prying eyes.

“It’s true Jeremiah, you should see Alex in action.”  Kara babbled, food momentarily forgotten as she engaged in one of her favorite pastimes: praising Alex.  “She’s so strong—and fast.  Rao, the first time we sparred, she had me on the mat in seconds.  It was crazy.”  She glanced at Alex aside.  “I’m still not sure she didn’t cheat.”

“Well,” Jeremiah started, smile in place as he shoveled another piece of potato in his mouth.  “To be fair, she did always cheat in monopoly.”

Kara’s eyes got comically wide, jaw dropping as the table erupted in a chorus of “Oh’s”.

“Dad!”  Heat flooded Alex’s cheeks.  “I did not cheat!  I—reallocated some resources.”

Her dad chuckled, pointing his fork at her in mirth.  “You used to keep five hundred dollars with you and pretend you’d earned it when in reality you’d just never returned it.”

Alex face palmed and shook her head as everyone continued to laugh at her expense.

“I knew you weren’t that good, you cheater.”  Alex looked up at Kara and smiled when her alien squeezed her hand.  Kara’s cheeks were flushed with happiness and it took a lot for Alex not to lean in and kiss her grinning lips.

“Yeah, well Dad is the one who taught me that little trick so be mad at him!”

Eliza swatted at Jeremiah’s shoulder as more laughter came from their guests.

Jeremiah beamed, taking a sip from his glass of water—Eliza had forbidden him from having anything else until he’d healed up more—and giving Alex a heartwarming expression.  “There was no winning against your mother, she was shark!  She needed to be taken down.”  He laughed heartily as Eliza scowled at him, swatting his arm yet again.  “Besides, when you have your own children you’ll understand the desire to do anything to make them happy.  I always wanted you happy Alex…”  Alex felt a frog lodge in her throat at the raw emotion that was being exchanged between them.  “You seem happy now.  Is there a special someone responsible for that?  A young gentleman suitor I should be thanking/ threatening perhaps?”  He continued, his expression turning teasing.

Alex flushed red, the table going oddly silent at the question.  At this point, everyone was in the know about her sexuality, so the question caused an awkward kind of tension to blanket the evening.  The added fact that only J’onn and Eliza had been told about her and Kara’s new relationship—although she was pretty sure that Winn and Maggie had at least guessed something had changed—only served to increase a little of Alex’s anxiety.

But the past few weeks, the sheer joy that had become her life since she and Kara had spoken, the happiness that had flooded her since her dad had come home…

It made her brave.

“Um, no.”  She started, giving Kara’s hand a soft squeeze where it lay against her thigh.  “I mean, I am in a relationship but not with a guy.  I’m uh… I don’t like men, I’m... a lesbian dad.” 

Jeremiah blinked, a puzzled look on his face before his expression slowly morphed into one of joy.  “Do you finally see what I was saying about Cindi Crawford now?”

“Jeremiah Danvers!  Stop manipulating our daughter!” Eliza swatted him again, a stern look on her face, ruined only by the twitching in her lips.

“Get’em Danvers!”  Maggie hooted from down the table, reaching across the demolished tray of wings to give Winn a high five.  James shook his head at their antics.  Lucy looked a bit more tense than the situation called for.

Alex groaned, her nose wrinkling as Kara giggled next to her.  “No Dad.  Just no.  Besides, I’m involved.”

Her father only laughed, nodding solemnly as he continued in a deadpan voice.  “I had to stop looking when I married your mother too.”  He turned away briefly to give Eliza an intense look.  “It’s a good thing I married my favorite person in the universe, I don’t know if I could have given Cindi up for anyone else.”

It was both sweet and not and Eliza’s exasperated countenance told them all they needed to know.

“So, when do I get to meet your leading lady?”  Jeremiah asked, returning to the rest of his potato.  “Why didn’t you invite her tonight?  Is it still new?”

“Oh.”  Alex said, voice sounding a little strangled as Kara’s grip on her hand tightened.  “Well… um…” 

And here was the deciding moment.  She could honestly just say that it was new, it was.  Everyone would accept that and move on.  But than later, she would be alone with Kara who wouldn’t say anything about it.  Her girlfriend would simply accept that Alex hadn’t been ready, support her as best she could, and make sure Alex knew she was loved. 

And she’d be sad the whole time she was doing it. 

Alex didn’t want that.  Kara had given up so much for her, had been brave where Alex hadn’t.  It was time for Alex to step up.

“Well,” she started again, licking dry lips and looking over at Kara.  The blonde looked lovely, if a little tense, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and her glasses perched slightly low on her nose.  Alex smiled, feeling bolstered and deciding to ride her wave of good fortune to the bank.  “Well dad, guys… Kara and I are together—dating.  We’re still new but… yeah.”  She finished lamely.

There was a beat of silence where Alex kept her eyes on Kara’s shocked face, a sort of terrified petrification stalling her from looking at anyone else, when Winn’s voice shattered the silence.

“I KNEW IT!”  The man cried, shoving his hands out at Lucy and James.  “Pay up noobs, I win!”

Lucy gave him a look like she’d swallowed a lemon while James simply chuckled and reached for his wallet.

“Congratulations you two.”  The dark man said, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.  “You both deserve to be happy.”

Kara was practically vibrating with happiness as Maggie added her concurrence on the matter, and Lucy stood to wrap her up in a strong hug.  Over Kara’s shoulder, J’onn gave Alex a nod of approval.

Only Mon-El looked slightly put out, but he still forced a smile and clapped with everyone else.

Finally pulling her eyes away from Kara’s smiling face to look over at her father, Alex expected some similar expression of support.

She wished she hadn’t looked.  She desperately wished she could rewind time and just take the words back.

Next to her husband, Eliza was tense, eyes raking over him as though she had expected such a reaction.  And at first, Alex thought her father was mad at her—it was one thing to be gay, it was quite another to drag your little sister into it.

But Jeremiah wasn’t looking at her.  Instead his rage filled eyes were focused on Kara, a fact that everyone started to glean on to if the uncomfortable expressions they all shared was anything to go by.  Except for Lucy who stood behind the now aware Kryptonian, hands resting solidly on her shoulders.

Alex frowned, confused as she tried to understand what was happening.

“Jeremiah,” Kara tried, wetting her lips and nearly crushing Alex’s fingers in their still entwined hands.  “I—”

“Do not address me Kryptonian.”  Jeremiah’s words were laced with malice, his red face belying his anger as he clenched his hands in fists on top of the table.  “I invited you into my home and _this_ is how you repay me?”

“Dad!”  Alex interjected, feeling equal parts angry, scared and confused.  “She didn’t do anything wrong.  _We_ didn’t do anything wrong.  I lov—”

“Did you have sex?”

“Jeremiah that is enough!”  Eliza’s voice was scandalized, and she reached out her hand to grip her husbands arm, fingers clenching in the fabric of his sleeve.

“We didn’t—I mean I would never—” Kara stuttered out, shaking her head as she tried to defend herself.

The whole thing was only making Alex angrier.  “That’s none of your damn business.”

“She could have a disease Alex!  Did you even check before you decided bestiality was your new bad habit?”

Kara paled, her grip on Alex’s hand going slack as J’onn stood up next to her, Lucy’s hands tightening just so on her shoulders.

“ _Kara_ ” Alex began slowly, because it seemed like her father had lost all damn sense and forgot the woman’s name.  “Is not an animal.  _Kara_ is a person—a person I happen to be very much in love with so—”

“And when did that love start Alex?  Hmm?  Was it always there, or did she do something to you?”

“Kara would never—”

“Her kind is poison!  They are a plague on our planet Alex! I raised you better than this!  You know there are aliens out there that secrete unwanted pheromones!  She might have given you something and you don’t even know because you’re too busy being doped up on sex that you can’t see past the pretty blue eyes.”  Eliza said something, but her dad was already talking over her, eyes swapping back to Kara as he continued his hate filled rant.  Alex rose from her chair, unable to sit while Kara was obviously cowering at the onslaught, but not wanting to attack her injured _father_.  “You are not welcome here.  I should have never taken you in.  It was the biggest mistake of my life—it cost me everything, my family, my job.  And now you want my _daughter_?  You want to take the only good thing I have left?!”  He moved to stand, shoving the table forcefully to aid him.  Mon-El followed his motion, clamping a hand on his arm to prevent him from moving any further.  

Eliza rose with him, her face murderous as she threw her napkin down on the table.  “That is _enough_.  You say one more word to _my daughter_ and I will _stab you_!  Get the hell out of this apartment before I have that lovely young man _throw_ you out.”

Jeremiah glared down at Mon-El’s hand, ripping his arm free and switching his ire to the man responsible.  The Daxamite glared right back, his posture tense.  Next to Kara, J’onn crossed his arms casually against his chest.   Maggie was standing behind Eliza, her hands on her hips—a pose Alex knew she took unconsciously when she wanted to show her gun and badge.  Her jeans were absent both, but the stance was still intimidating.

“Sir,” Lucy said quietly, murder dancing in her eyes when it seemed Jeremiah had no intentions of listening to Eliza.  “ _You_ are no longer welcome here.”

The man scowled at her, eye’s darting around the room at the various people that stood against him.  “Alex—”

“ _Get out!”_ The words were pressed out between clenched teeth, anger forcing Alex’s jaw shut as her body trembled with pent up energy.

Her father— _Jeremiah_ looked at her and then shook his head and left without further fanfare, the tension in the room leaving with him.

Alex stared at the door.

The room was quiet, the only sound that of Lucy exhaling slowly, her shoulders bouncing lightly as she tried to relieve some of the strain from her muscles.

A chair scraped next to Alex, the sound startling her with its piercing loudness.  Her eyes landed on Kara’s fumbling form, the blonde moving out of Lucy’s hold and stumbling back towards the window.

“I need to—there’s an emergency… Supergirl—So I’m gonna…”  She jerked her thumb back at her window, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes as she started pulling at her clothes.  Alex moved towards her, hands reaching out to hold her, but Kara dodged out of the way, nearly knocking over her easel in the process.  “I can’t—I’m… I need to go.”

There was a whoosh of air and then she was gone, super speeding away to take care of a fabricated emergency.

Alex had never felt more alone.

“ _Jackass_.”

“Winn.”  James’ voice was warning, his head moving in a barely there shake.

Winn scowled, but clamped his mouth shut, his obvious anger at Alex’s father mirrored in everyone else.

Alex barely paid any of it any attention, her body in some sort of shock, her eyes remaining glued to the open window Kara had taken off out of.

Her mind replaying the devastated look on Kara’s face over and over.

She had done that.

That had been her fault.

She should have kept her stupid mouth shut; none of this would have happened if she had just kept her stupid mouth shut.

She should have known better.  Nothing good _ever_ lasted in her life.  She’d known that, and she’d still let her euphoria cloud her judgement.  Had still allowed pain and hate into her and Kara’s bubble.

She knew that J’onn had left, probably to keep an eye on Jeremiah, and Mon-El was standing next to Eliza, seemingly trying to comfort her.  She felt rather than heard Maggie come to stand next to her, Lucy hovering in the background, the Latina gripping both of Alex’s forearms and turning the agent to face her.

“Whatever self-hate bullshit is going through your head—stop it.  It’s not true.  You did _not_ deserve that Danvers.”

She couldn’t see.  Everything was so fucking blurry, and Kara’s apartment might have some sort of leak.  She glanced up at the ceiling, the wetness on her face getting worse as she tried to locate the source of the water.

Then Winn was hugging her from behind and Alex’s legs damn near gave up on her, the small man surprisingly strong as he held her weight.

What the fuck was wrong with her?  What the fuck had she been thinking?

Her face stung slightly, and she became aware of Maggie lightly tapping at her cheeks.  She looked up at her friend, the detective’s eyes sad and full of empathy.

Then Eliza was there, pulling her into her arms and holding her.  There were some more things said, words that barely processed in Alex’s cotton filled mind and then the sound of a door and silence.

She stayed like that, wrapped in her mother’s arms, Eliza rocking her gently, hand carding through Alex’s hair in slow soothing motions.

So much for being brave.  


~*~

Eliza opted to spend the night at Kara’s, using the couch as her bed since she refused to leave Alex alone after the debacle at dinner.

And Kara had yet to return.  She wouldn’t be leaving until she was sure that _both_ of her daughters were ok. 

Alex had slept fitfully, only falling asleep from the sheer amount of stress that had overwhelmed her in the past few hours.  She felt like shit and she wanted nothing more than to go out and find Kara.  She’d called Winn in a desperate attempt to do so, but the tech genius had informed her that Kara’s tracker was out of range.  Meaning she was either too far or too high for Alex to be able to follow her.

She pressed her lips together, unwilling to allow herself to cry again.  It had been bad enough the first go around, but now… well now she felt like if she started she wouldn’t be able to stop.

Forcing back her emotions, she pushed the fingers of her left hands into her eyes, the pain in her eyeballs giving her something else to focus on.  Grunting, Alex rolled onto her side, blinking blearily, arms stretched out to Kara’s side of the bed and nearly shitting herself when she saw the superheroine sat in the small chair in the corner of the room.

Kara was still in her super suit and in the dim light from the bathroom, Alex could see the look of despondence on her face.  She forced herself to remain still, scared that any sudden movements would scare her girl away before she’d had a chance to talk to her.

“Could I have hurt you?”  Kara finally asked after several minutes of tense silence, her body hunched in on itself and her eyes glued to her hands, where she was picking at her nail beds.  “Could I have… maybe a disease or something we didn’t think of?  I know we haven’t had sex yet, but if we did could I—would I—” Her voice broke off, apparently unable to even _speak_ about hurting Alex in such a way.

Alex was on her feet in seconds, quick steps bringing her to her knees in front of Kara and pulling the Kryptonian’s hands to herself.  Her left hand moved to Kara’s face, gently urging her girl to look at her and swallowing her own agony at the look of anguish there.  Kara blinked rapidly, and Alex realized she was refocusing her eyes—that she’d been enhancing her sight in an effort to find the invisible disease Jeremiah had claimed she possessed.

“No.”  She said firmly, making sure to maintain eye contact.  She squeezed Kara’s fingers, held tightly in her right hand, her left thumb stroking over her cheekbone.  “No Kara.  Remember all of those tests mom ran on you when we were younger?  That ruled out any alien microbes that might be harmful to humanity.  You’re not diseased baby.”

“But…”  Kara swallowed, her breath hitching as she fought back her own tears, voice small in her hopelessness.  “She might not have been checking for sex stuff, right?  I mean we were kids so maybe she didn’t think to check for that back then.  And maybe, I might make you sick and—”

Alex pressed their lips together, swallowing Kara’s sob and pulling her closer.  She kissed her three more times, before she simply pulled the younger woman into her arms and held her, fingers digging into her scalp as she cradled her head to her shoulder.

“You didn’t make me sick.  You _won’t._ If you don’t believe me that’s ok, we’ll run all the tests again to make sure.  As many times as you need ok?  But Kara…. Even if we can never have sex, there’s no way I’m giving you up.”  She tightened her grip, her own voice threatening to break under the onslaught of her feelings.  “I love you too damn much now.  You’re stuck with me Zor-El.”

Kara shuddered in her arms, a huge full body tremble before she sagged forward and let Alex take her weight.  She didn’t cry or rant.  She just let Alex hold her.

“He was wrong.”  Alex insisted, trying to pull Kara even closer to her and take away all of the pain in her body.  “You are not a _thing_ , or an _animal_.  You’re _Kara_ : the most kind, beautiful, _human_ person I know.  You’re so amazing honey and you do so much good.  You’ve saved so many lives.  I love you.”  She pulled back slightly, pushing thick blonde hair away from the face she’d come to adore so much.  “I love that you feel an incontrollable urge to sing without any sort of provocation; I love that you refuse to swear; I love that you hate brussels sprouts because I really love them so it’s like the one food I can eat a lot of when you’re around.”  Kara released a watery laugh, tears finally falling from her eyes and Alex leaned in and kissed her smiling lips.  “I love so much that you wake up every day and you do what you think is right.  You never let anyone sway your opinion.  Your strength and your heart… baby, they’re the best parts of you.  Don’t ever let him or anyone take that away from you ok?  I am so so so lucky to have you in my life Kara.  I thank God everyday that you found us.  You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

The tears came now in choked sobs from both of them, Kara sinking fully to her knees and burying herself in Alex, mumbled declarations of love escaping the blonde in heavy gasps.  The brunette pressed her face into her girlfriend’s neck, trying to breathe through her heartache.

She’d never imagined this outcome; never even entertained the idea that someone would have a problem with _Kara._ She was the sweetest person in the world, she didn’t deserve this.

When Kara’s sobs started to subside, she pulled her to her feet and helped her into a pair of pajamas before tugging her to the bed.  Kara curled up on top of her, her ear pressed to Alex’s heart and fingers seeking out soft skin where Alex’s shirt had ridden up.

“I’m sorry I said something.”  Alex murmured into the quiet that fell upon them, voice slightly croaky from their crying bout.  “I should have talked to you about it, I shouldn’t have just blurted it out like that.”

Kara’s head popped up, her left hand coming up to stroke over Alex’s cheek.  “Are you kidding?  Before that all went to hell… Alex I’d never been so happy.”  She leaned in and pressed her lips to Alex’s mouth, kissing her slow.  She took her time, tongue searching, taking quick nips with her teeth and soothing the sting a moment later.  When Alex started to feel the need for oxygen Kara pulled away, nose nuzzling tear stained cheeks as she continued in a wobbly voice.  “You make me so happy Alex.  I love you so much.  Thank you for standing by me.”

Alex swallowed hard, a lump in her throat as she pulled Kara back down to her.  Some of the guilt and shame she’d felt from earlier disappearing with Kara’s words.  She’d made Kara happy, there wasn’t too much more she needed aside from that.

~*~

When Jeremiah stole the alien registry, she wasn’t surprised.  Mon-El had tried warning them that the man was up to no good, but Alex had tried holding on to the last shred of hope she’d had that the man her father had been, still existed.

That this abhorrent shell was just a result of his time and probable torture at the hands of Cadmus.

As she held her gun aimed at his head she told herself that it still might be the case.  That maybe the real Jeremiah had died in Cadmus.  It made it easier to hold the gun steady.

“Get on your knees dad.”

Jeremiah exhaled, his breath coming out in a gust of white in the frigid air.  “I think I’ll stand honey.”

“How could you?”  Alex sneered, the anger that had been simmering in her boiling over as she thrust her gun at him.  “How could you?”

“Would you believe me if I said I did it for you?”

“You betrayed everyone—your family, _everyone I love_.”  She shrugged her shoulders, head shaking in disbelief while she took in the man in front of her.  “And you did that for me?”

Jeremiah’s arms came out in a helpless gesture.  “Family is complicated honey.”

She shook her head because… it really wasn’t.  “I’m taking you in.”

“Not alive you’re not.”  Her father held his arms out to the side, giving her a larger target.  “If you wanna bring me in you’re gonna have to shoot me.”

Alex’s nostrils flared in agitation, her hand tightening on her gun.  “No.”  She said.  “I’m not.”

A moment of tense silence ensued as they stared each other down.

The sound of a train passing somewhere far in the distance giving them something else to focus on if even briefly.  Alex finally relaxed, inhaling slowly as she took her index finger off the trigger and rested it on the frame of her weapon.  Jeremiah slowly lowered his hands, eyeing her warily as he took a step backward.

Alex’s finger twitched on her exhale, the frown on her face deepening when Jeremiah’s hand went up to his neck.  She pressed down with her middle finger on the metal of the gun and watched as her father removed the second tranq dart from further below the first site.

Jeremiah swayed unsteadily and Alex watched as he tried to stumble away, the new holes in the fingers of her gloves allowing her digits to feel the biting cold.  “J’onn’s new best friend’s name is Batman.  I mean, alien refugee… he had to make new alliances since he’d made such poor choices the first time around.  Batman might have showed us few things about taking down bad guys.  You’re gonna have a hard time biting any sort of cyanide pill with your jaw like that.  A little cocktail I cooked up that mimic’s myasthenia gravis.  Loss of motor control; you won’t be able to move anytime soon.”

Her father fell to his knees, mouth slack and expression dumfounded.  She rounded the downed tree trunk to stop in front of him, a respectable distance remaining between them, weapon still in her hand.

“I’m going to take you back to the DEO and get you help.  I know that you think what your doing is protecting me, but you’ve done nothing but hurt me since you came back.”  Jeremiah looked up at her weakly from his new position on his side.  “I don’t know what they did to you and I’m not sure what parts of the man I saw this week are really you and what’s Cadmus… but I do know that I love Kara.  I know that she’s it for me.  So, whether you’re you or not, I need to say this.  I need you to _hear_ it.  We do not need your approval.  I don’t need you to love _me_ in order for me to love _her_.  Whatever Cadmus hopes to accomplish by going after her, I’m going to make sure they lose.  I protect the people I love.”

Jeremiah fell to his back, eyes finally closing as he surrendered to the sedatives.  “Like… father… like… daughter.”

“Yeah dad.”  Alex confirmed to the unconscious man, DEO agents finally arriving on scene and flooding the area with lights.  “You were a great role model.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> That wasn't too bad right? I mean... right?
> 
> The full line of the song that I based this on was: What I couldn't teach you, you will realize. She's the only thing that matters.  
> That last part just always hits me in the gut and I encourage you all to give the song a listen, and just get the feels of a maybe not so perfect family and loving each other anyway. le sigh.
> 
> I might start a one shot series... my brain has been overflowing with ideas, but I don't wanna stray too far from YWLM so we'll see.
> 
> This was supposed to be 2k- a flash fic to clear my head... I realize I may have a problem with words.
> 
> So here is my thought process: everyone is always getting on Eliza because she was so strict with Alex so obviously she would have reservations about her sexuality and/or relationship with Kara. I can see that and I actually really like reading well written versions of those stories because... angst is my jam.  
> But, I decided to give Eliza a break. In my head, Eliza pretty much raised Alex alone for the second half of her life, she knows her daughter, knows her character and her behaviors. As such, I doubt she would be all that surprised if Alex ever revealed hidden feelings, she might have hoped she was wrong but not really surprised.
> 
> On the flip side, Jeremiah missed a huge chunk of Alex's life AND he was brainwashed and tortured by Cadmus. Of course he's gonna be looking for an outlet of all that pain and anger and who do the Luthor's just absolutely hate? The House of El. So now Jeremiah hate's them.
> 
> I also changed the ending of that ep to reflect how much Alex loves Kara. In canon she can let him go because he's only really punched J'onn. But in my story he attacks Kara and that is unforgiveable, so he's gotta go. She still loves him so she uses her finger tranqs (an actual thing in the DCU btw... or was that a taser...) to take him out.
> 
> Her last large monologue was what I based the entire story off of, and I just felt it was really important for Alex to say the words and for anyone who needs them, to read them.
> 
> You don't need other people to love you for you to love someone else. Whatever stick the world has up its ass is not your problem, let them figure themselves out, you just focus on being happy.
> 
> Be kind.
> 
> Eat good food.
> 
> ~Chronicles


End file.
